AG COUNCIL NEWS & INFORMATION BRIEF
September 16, 2022
WASHINGTON AG UPDATE
Fiscal Year 2023: Congress must approve a new spending measure to keep the government open into the next fiscal year, which begins October 1. Efforts are underway to advance a stopgap measure to provide enough funding to make it past the November mid-term elections. While there is growing interest in providing supplemental disaster aid for farmers dealing with drought, floods, and other natural disasters, it's likely that such a measure would be in the next spending measure following the elections. More...Politico
USDA Announces Climate Smart Funding: On Wednesday, September 14th, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced major grant awards aimed at advancing Climate Smart Agriculture Commodity and Forestry initiatives. The total funding amount made available for these initiatives is $3.5 billion with $2.8 billion allocated in the 70 projects announced this week. Included in the grant awards were several that will directly and indirectly serve farmers in Arkansas. Secretary Vilsack is scheduled to make another announcement promoting the initiative in Arkansas on Friday, September 16th. More...
Announcement Video | Press Release | Projects Awarded (Arkansas Related Projects) | News: AgriPulse | AgWeb | NCC | USA Rice | Riceland
Rail Crisis Averted: According to reports Thursday from the Biden Administration, a major crisis in railway transportation was averted as negotiations resulted in a tentative agreement through 2024 between labor unions and railroad companies before a Friday deadline that would have resulted in a significant labor strike that would have disrupted rail traffic across the country. More...9.15.22 White House Announcement | WSJ Article
Hearings: Congress returned to Washington following the August recess and Labor Day holiday to hold a series of hearings to cover a range of subject areas, including the farm bill.
SEC Mandatory Reporting Requirement on Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 9.15.22 Senate Banking Committee
Digital Commodities Trading: 9.15.22 Senate Ag Hearing to Consider Legislation
Farm Bill - Rural Broadband: 9.15.22 House Ag Committee Hearing
Soil Health: 9.14.22 House Ag Committee Hearing
Right to Repair: 9.13.22 House Committee on Small Business
Rail Labor Dispute: 9.15.22 Joint House T&I Committee and Ag Committee
ARKANSAS AG UPDATE
Arkansas Legislature Advances Water Infrastructure Funding: The Arkansas General Assembly advanced efforts to provide the Arkansas Department of Agriculture authority to spend up to $280 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds on water, wastewater, and irrigation projects. The legislature approved $5 million in funds for each respective irrigation project (Bayou Meto & Grand Prairie), which will help advance construction of systems intended to deliver surface water to farmers and alleviate groundwater depletion in Arkansas's most critical groundwater areas. More...ArkansasOnline
Arkansas Rice Report: 9.9.22 UofA Rice Update
Harvest Weather Improves: Nutrien's Eric Snodgrass Video
Smoke Management Reminder: As fields are harvested across Arkansas, many producers turn to management of crop residue with a variety of practices, including field burning. Field burning is an important management practice for many. Those intending to conduct burns are encouraged to follow voluntary smoke management guidelines established by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture. As part of following the recommendations established by the guidelines, farmers are encouraged to call the department's fire dispatch center at 1-800-830-8015 to ensure proper conditions are in place prior to burning.
UofA Announces New Conservation Webinar Series: Press Release
Arkansas Held Diversity in Ag Conference September 14: Meeting Information
USDA Equity Commission Set to Hold Meeting in Arkansas September 21-22: Registration Information (Zoom)
Cuban Embassy Representatives Visit Arkansas: USA Rice Summary
Solar Growth in Ag: ArkansasOnline | Arkansas Business
Ted Thomas Announces Resignation from Public Service Commission: Arkansas Business
Former UofA Cotton Specialist & Ag Hall of Fame Inductee, Gene Woodall, Passed Away at 101 Years of Age: ArkansasOnline | Funeral Home
Ag Census: Every 5 years, USDA conducts the Census of Agriculture, which is a complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. Surveys mailed to producers in November are expected to be completed and returned by February. More... https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/
Winter Wheat Information from UofA: Important Crop Insurance Dates | Crop Insurance Projected Price
Ag Council Annual Meeting: The Ag Council will hold its Annual Board of Directors Meeting December 12-13 at the Capital Hotel in Little Rock. More details to come...
ECONOMIC & INDUSTRY NEWS
Crop Reports: On Monday, September 12, USDA released several crop estimate reports including the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate (WASDE) Report.
Crop Production: U.S. | Arkansas
WASDE: WASDE Report | Secretary's Briefing
Crop Progress and Condition Report: U.S. | Arkansas
Additional Links: Agri-Pulse | AgWeb | UofA Division of Ag
September is Rice Month: USA Rice
Food Inflation Rising in U.S.: https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/18228-food-costs-surge-again-offsetting-gas-price-drop | https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/food-inflation
Agricultural Land Values Report: August 2022 | UofA Analysis
Corteva and Bayer Sue Each Other Based on Intellectual Property in Crop Genetics: https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2022/08/12/bayer-corteva-sue-patent-involving
Corteva and BASF Announce Strategic Partnership in Soybeans Genetics to Combat Weeds: https://agriculture.basf.us/crop-protection/news-events/news-releases/BASF-and-corteva-agriscience-collaborate.html